Draft-support.



T. H. SYMINGTON.

DRAFT SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 3o, 1914.

l Patented Feb. 15, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

I l @313m T. H. SYMINGTON.

DRAFT SUPPORT.

APPLICATION HLED Nov. 30, 1914.

anted Feb.15,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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'A UNITED sTATEs PATENT oE-EioE.

THOMAS H. SYM1121525012',l 0F ROCHESTER, NEW YORK DRAFT-SUPPORT.

To all whom it may concern Y Be it known that I, THOMAS H. SYMiNG- TON, a citiz'en of the United States of America, residing in the city of Rochester, county of Monroe, invented certain new and useful Improvements iii Draft-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

The inadequacy of old wooden underl frame'freight cars to ineet the requirements of present traliic conditions is an established fact as recognized by the recently revised regulations of the Master Car Builders Association which make it necessary for the them by draft sills in such cars or equivalent means for supporting the cheek plates, to extend beyond and back of the bolster.

. As a result of the revision of the regulations of the Master Car Builders Association referred to, it will be necessary to replace or reconstruct many thousands of freight in the fall of 1915l when the requirement is to become final. As the expense involved in replacing the cars is in many instances prohibitive, any cheap, convenient and effective means for reinforcing the old cars so that they will meet both the demand put upon the heavy traffic conditions of the time, and the regulations o-f the present Car Builders Association, will prove Master of almost inestimable value to the railroads and incidentally to the c ar builders and manufacturers of equipment.

With these facts in view, the applicant has produced a center sill reinforcement and draft support adapted to meet the conditions outlined.

It consists of metal beams extending from the reinforcement on the two sills'being tied byy a plate to which draft sills are secured,

the plate with the center sills and draft sills thus connected, forming a rigid frame eX- tending from end to end of the car adapted to support the draft gear, amply suflicient in tension and compression strength to resist thl buiiing and drawing stresses applied to the draft gear and sufficient in transverse strength to resist the bending-moment at the bolster to which the old wooden frames frequently yielded, resulting in breaking down of the front ends of the sills at the bolster. This, in, effect, gives the whole car new rigidity to meet the conditions presented, and correspondingly extended length of life.

Specification of Letters Patent.

State of New York, have cars before the date fixed some time together at the ends.

' Patented Feb. 1.5, 19.16.

Application led November 30, 1914. Serial No. 874,620.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated so much of a wooden underframe reinforced in accordance with my invention as is necessary to illustrate the nature of the invention and its operation.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan of the central portion, the frame being broken away in the vicinity of one cheek 'plate to show a horizontal cross-section at this point; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on one sideof the central plane on the line 2, 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similar section on the line 3, 3, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a vertical central section showing one sill and one cheek plate in elevation, and the central tie plate in cross-section.

Referring to the drawings by numerals each of which is used to indicate the same or similar parts sin; the different figures, the wooden center sills 1 are reinforced by means of metal beams shown in the form of channels 2, extending from end to end of the car, the channels being secured to the center sills proper at frequent intervals by means of transverse bolts 3. At each end of each channel 2D is a vertically extending angle iron l having one fiange secured to the central web 5 of the channel, and the other flange bearing on the end sill 6, and the channels 2 are secured together at their ends by means of plates 7, the plates being shown as riveted at their edges to the bottom flanges 8 of the long channels 2 and sprung upward centrally between the center sills 'to provide rooin lowers. Thus the plates 7 and the channels 2 form a quadrilateral frame reinforcing the center sills and, with the center sills, forming the back bone of the car. Beneath the plate 7 and rigidly secured thereto to form a support for the cheek plates of the draft gear, are draft beams or plates 9. These are in the form of short sections of channel iron having the central web vertical and the top ange riveted to the plate, and tied together at their rear ends by transverse plates 14 secured to the bottom flange of each. The

cheek plates usedin this instance are pref for the draft yoke and folv riveted to the flat faces of the channels over or covering the seating members. To give added rigidity to the structure, tie plates 13 placed at intervals are usedu These extend from sill to sill being riveted at their ends to the bottom flanges of the channels 2.

The function, effect or operation of the structure Will be apparent from the descrip tion .taken in connection With thel drawings and preamble. By use of the longitudinal reinforcing members 2 extending from end to en'd of the car, joined at their ends by the plates 7, the plates and longitudinal members forming a frame Which supports the draft gear, the Wooden sills are in effect entirely relieved of the builing and drawing stresses to which they Were subject in the original construction and they now serve merely as nailing strips, also lending to the channels `added stiffness or capacity to resist lateral stresses. The frame formed of the channels 2, the plates 7 and the' draft plates or sills 9, has the desiredeffect of taking up and distributing the bufiing stresses which are the heaviest stresses to which the car is subjected, and the Whole end structure is such as toprevent breaking down of the sills over the bolster, an occurrence which is known to have been frequent with the Wooden underframes in the past.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a structure embodying my invention in its preferred form. However, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in their limiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

I claim- I 1. In a Wooden underframe car having Wooden center sills, a metal reinforcement consisting of metal channels having their Webs covering and secured to the outer faces of the sills and extending from end to end of the car, the flanges being turned outward, metal plates one at each end spanning the sills' and secured at their edges to the bottom flanges of the channels, and draft sills at each end in the form of channel irons having their top flanges secured to and depending from ,the plates.

2. In a Wooden underframe car Wooden end sills and-center sills, a metal reinforcement consisting of metal channels having their Webs covering vand secured to the outer faces of the sills and extending from end to end of the car, the flanges being turned outward, metal plates one at each= end spanning the sills and secured at their edges to the bottom flanges of the channels, draft sills at each end in the form of channel irons having their top flanges secured .to and depending from the plates and verftical angle irons, one at each end of each long channel, said angle irons each having a flange riveted to the end sill and a flange ,riveted to the web of the channel.

3. In a Wooden underframe car, Wooden center sills, a metal reinforcementconsisting of metal channels having their Webs secured to the outer faces of the sills and extending from end to end of the car, metal plates one at each end spanning the` sills and secured at their edges to the bottom Hanges of thebchannels, and draft sills depending froin the plates and secured at their upper edges to the said plates Which span the sills.

Signed by 'me at llochestenvNew York, this 27 day of November, 1914.

THOMAS H. SYMINGTON.

having I 

